What I learned while on sabbatical...

 perfect discussion for the Sunday before Ash Wednesday.

The first object of my attention was my habits. I made a concentrated effort to reform some of my sloppy ways. That alone changes so much in our life.

I believed being online for many hours a day was harmful. Now I know it is. And so I've severely limited the sites I visit.  During the past few months I tended to all my duties associated with my state in life before even approaching my computer. I might add in most cases these tasks were written in my agenda the evening before - usually after spending a bit of time cogitating in my journal. 

I try to stick to the 3-3-3 method to prioritize and it's working like a charm.

• Every quarter, you set three goals that you want to achieve in the three months ahead.
• Each week, you define the three objectives that will have the most impact on your quarterly goals.
• Every day, you choose the three tasks that will help you make the most progress toward your weekly objectives.

By doing this I've managed to fix the tiles on my kitchen floor, paint my bathroom, while learning how to tape and mud. I've used joint compound before, but have never taped. Piece of cake!  I have yet to have my new toilet installed and will miss my deadline for that, but not by much. 

All my garden seeds are ready for planting, and I'll start pruning trees next week (yay! - love to prune.)

I'm back at the gym after my silly surgery, continue to intermittent fast, aka time- restricted-eating, for my health,  As it happens, many medical people in the know have discovered time-restricted-eating helps protect you against the Wuflu and all sorts of other health problems.  Dr. Jason Fung is the master of explaining the science behind intermittent fasting in his two books - The Obesity Code*, and The Diabetes Code.*

The best resource for helping with habits is Atomic Habits*, by James Clear. I acquired this book back on January 10, 2019 and this past year (2021) it was, by all accounts, the largest selling book on Amazon. The hardbound is on sale right now and I highly recommend the paper version over Kindle. 

Ukraine

It happens I'm reading a novel set during the final year of WWII. The descriptions of the bombings are so similar to what is happening in Ukraine at the moment.  It's all very sad, and it reminds me how blessed we are in this country - at least so far. 

My good friend Lone Star Parson has a post on the spiritual and religious elements in play about what is going on. Not only do I believe Brandon will screw this up, I also know it. Sigh...

Believe nothing you read about Ukraine. The First Casualty of War Is the Truth – The Current Western Propaganda for Ukraine Is Epic in Scale. This is something I not only believe, but know.

Is the Wuflu finally dead?

Oh, hell noes.  First off, the elites have Ukraine as a distraction claiming inflation is all Russia's fault, and by extension, Trump's fault. The morons on the left are already bleating Russia, Russia, Russia, Trump, Trump, Trump. Yeah - whatever.

Gateway Pundit reported The Great Reset: National Vaccine Passport Rolled Out in 21 States and More Are Joining Including Red States. Do you really believe after seeing how the sheeple acquiesced and cowered in fear the monsters are just going to abandon such a great way to control?  It's time for you to know it's not going away, and make appropriate decisions based on that knowledge.  Unfortunately, Washington State will, no doubt, be one of the first in line to impose passports meaning we'll be kicking even more Washingtonians out of our way at our local Post Falls, Idaho Walmart and Super I.

Ash Wednesday

This coming Wednesday, most believing Christians will "celebrate" Ash Wednesday, starting off my favorite liturgical season.  Some of us will be lucky enough to have ashes smeared on our foreheads in the shape of a cross to signify  death and repentance. How's that for a smack upside the head?

The ashes come from a previous Palm Sunday. The palms are burned, the ashes collected, crushed, and mixed with a bit of holy oil.

The ashes are blessed by the priest during the Ash Wednesday Mass after the homily. People are invited to come forward, and the ashes are applied to each person’s forehead in the shape of a cross (we hope - sometimes it's more of a blob) as the minister says, “Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.”

The rest of the day, we'll be assailed by helpful people telling us we have dirt on our forehead.  NB: It's really not too Christian to reply, "WTHell, you pagan heathen. Don't you know it's Ash Wednesday?" Please just smile all holy and sphinx like, nod, and say, "Thank you."

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Information Overload: Feeling Overwhelmed?...

how to make it stop.

I'm a sucker for "self-help" articles.  I'm also a sucker for organizing and minimalist articles, even though I'm attracted to pictures of what most people would call over-decorated rooms, and at times feel very disorganized.

Today, after perusing the usual "I hate Donald Trump" and "I hate Ted Cruz" articles, I actually was thinking, "Who gives a sh*t?"

Is there skullduggery going on in this primary?  Of course there is.  There always is.  Politics and skullduggery have always held hands and skipped down the lane together.

Can I do anything about it?  Nope.

Are we being lied to, manipulated, and propagandized by the MSM and others?  No doubt.

What bothers me most with those who have picked their savior™ is their absolute certainty that their savior™ is the only savior™ and couldn't possibly do anything wrong.  Their articles have become so predictable that I rarely bother to read them anymore.

Comboxes everywhere are over-run with trolls who are no doubt paid to mess with our minds.  Up-voting a comment is run by bots and means nothing anymore.

So, what to do?

Here's the only thing I can do.  I can recognize that I'm an individual who is in charge of my own life, and must do my best to manage my affairs.  It's also something you can do.

Today, at Mark's Daily Apple, is a wonderful article that brought some much needed focus.

How to Get Organized and Stay Focused in a Modern World

His point on what he calls "anger porn" is of particular interest:

Avoid anger porn

Between liberals rage-watching Fox News, conservatives gnashing teeth over Obama dancing the tango in Cuba, and anyone with a pulse reading Youtube comment sections, people are drawn to opinions and news that enrage them. I call this anger porn, and I’m not sure why we insist on consuming it. At least with regular porn, there’s a pay-off. With anger porn, we just get angry and frustrated. We can’t affect the world events being reported on. We can’t change that other guy’s disgusting opinion (nor can he change your horrendous one); we can reply to comments, but that just turns into a flame war without victors.

Anger consumes you. It depletes you. It’s a huge waste of time and attention.

Also:
 

Take stock of your digital sensory organs

Phones, apps, and social media are sensory organs for our extended digital brains. They provide streams of data and information, and this information either helps or hinders us. Unfortunately, our brain can’t really distinguish between useful and useless information before we see it; it all gets processed simply by virtue of our viewing it, taking up valuable brain resources in the process.

On a free day, take the time to sit down and analyze the data streams in your life. Go through your Twitter feed and survey your “followed” list. Are the accounts you follow making you happy, improving your life, inspiring you, or making you money? Stop following the ones who you answer “no” to. Now do the same for the apps on your phone. If they aren’t improving your existence, or are sucking your time away without anything to show for it, delete them. Do this for every digital outlet you maintain.

It's a fine article with many more valuable suggestions and well worth your time to read

What seems most overwhelming to you? 

More:

Tom Woods:   9 Ways Successful People Think Differently
 

Beware the gods of the internet...

you could be a target.

This little post of mine asked the question:

How "connected" do we really have to be?

That evening we lost our internet servive and remained unconnected for over TEN hours.

Coincidence?

I think not.

How much time are we wasting?...

online.

I have 306 sources in my Feedly (down from 391 after a major purge last week.)

My bookmark tab has 43 major news sites (oddly enough, Fox News is not there and I rarely go there.)

I spend approximately 3 - 4 hours every morning perusing this information.

If I'm too tired to do my daily tasks, I may spend the majority of the day searching out a nugget of information to improve my life.

Haven't found one yet.

Guess what?

That's insane.

I don't think I'm alone.

Stitching your finger with your sewing machine not recommended, the myth of "catching up", and digital detoxing...

I'll try to keep this brief (exactly when was an Italian woman ever brief?)

I endeavor to maintain a schedule of sorts.  My weekly planner is home made and based loosely on David Allen's Getting Things Done.

The top 1/3 of the page is for my weekly goals.  The middle is for my actual schedule based on what's in the top 1/3, and the bottom 1/3 is for notes (green ink for garden stuff ), along with my few appointments (in red ink.)

I decided a few weeks ago that putting everything, or what seemed like everything, in the top 1/3 wasn't working very well.  I did an Excel spreadsheet listing all of the things that needed to be done and very selectively picked the most important for each week.

What does this have to do with the concept of catching up and sewing?

When I had everything written in my weekly area. it always seemed like I was forever "behind."  It was impossible to account for unforeseen happenings, which brings me to sewing.

I've had a sewing project that really needed to get done.  I scheduled it along with the rest of the project.  Within mere minutes of starting on Sunday, I managed to just about sew my finger to the cloth which also broke the sewing machine needle.

After stemming the flow of blood (it was copious), I looked for another needle.  No needle.  That led to a quick trip to Wally World for a new needle.  Except now the day was about over so I decided to slip in the needle on Monday morning and finish up the project.

After putting the new needle in, I decided that the location of the broken needle tip may be important.  I was pretty sure by this time it wasn't lodged in my finger, but what if it was in the machine?

I took out the bobbin, slipped off the race cover, took a look around, and then - the shuttle hook fell out. 

I had no idea of how to get the darn shuttle hook back in, so I hit the internet for advice which I eventually found from a nice lady who is obsessed with sewing machines.  Her advice and magnificent pictures saved the day - or what was left of the day.  (NB: Until this woman gave me my first sewing machine lesson, these parts were all referred to as "thingys" - i.e: the outside round thingy and the inside thingy.  I did know the bobbin case was the bobbin case.  Score one for moi.)

On Monday, I managed to finish with the sewing, but not the remaining part of the project.

 Now it's Tuesday, and most of Monday's scheduled stuff is not done, and has been pushed to today.  But wait.  I have my Tuesday scheduled stuff still sitting there.

Are you getting it now?  There is no such thing as catching up.  Accept it.  Live with it.  Learn to love life just as it is.

Courtney Carver, at Be More With Less, has an excellent article on the subject:  How to End the Endless Game of Catching Up

 I've taken up way too much of your time already, so I'll save digital detoxing for tomorrow.

Right now, I have tomatoes to transplant and whatever else I can mange to do.  One thing I know for sure; I won't get "caught up."

Question:  How many of you live in the "getting caught up trap?"

Swiped from my good friend Blue: